Newspaper Page Text
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2008
THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS
PACE 3A
Drag race continued from page
1A
was stopping, and was sur
prised when it kept going east
toward 441, given the black,
swerving streaks on the road,
and the crowd.
“I called 911 and asked for
an officer to come to the loca
tion. I explained what was
going on, and remarked that
I didn’t feel very safe. About
eight or 10 minutes later, an
officer still had not arrived, so
I called 911 again. About four
or five minutes later, an officer
arrived. Some of the kids were
leaving, but there were still at
least 20 trucks and cars in the
field - many of them custom
ized big wheel pickups.
“The mother’s brother came
over to my car and talked to
me for a few minutes. He said
‘She’s not thinking right.’ As
I was giving the officer my
statement, a man identified as
Gene Hart, a Banks County
commissioner, pulled up. I
approached him to discuss
the problem, and I believe
it was at that point that the
mother said I was ‘ruining her
son’s day.’ I understood that
to mean that she was allowing
and condoning drag racing in
front of her house, as a way of
honoring her son’s memory.
“I started to speak to Mr.
Hart, but he told me he was
not going to talk to me, told
me to get back in my car, that
‘the officer would take care
of it.’
“I walked back to my car
and continued to give the
officer my statement. I said
I wanted to know what was
going to be done, and the
officer said I could contact the
Banks County Investigations
department on Monday.
“An accident would very
likely have occurred if I
hadn’t stopped — and Mrs.
Bush would have been liable
for the injury to or death of
more people. Those kids were
unsupervised, unaccompanied
by parents or teachers, and
out of control - emotionally
and physically. Mrs. Bush was
also out of control - certainly
no parent in a rational state
of mind would have allowed
teenagers to participate
CROWD GATHERS
A large crowd reportedly gathered to watch drag
racing following the funeral of Tyler Bush. Several
trucks can be seen off Sims Bridge Road.
in
such an illegal and dangerous
way of expressing their feel
ings at the death — I believe
in a car accident — of their
classmate.
“The Banks County High
School website top story is
about Superintendent Chris
Erwin’s pride in the success
of the Banks County High
School driver education pro
gram.
“That story needs to be
replaced right away with a
story about the death of Tyler
Bush, and the near deaths
of his classmates and other
innocent drivers, because of
the failure of these children’s
parents, teachers, county offi
cials and school system. I
request that the school system
hold a meeting with Tyler’s
classmates, their parents, and
teachers, and discuss what
happened as soon as possible.
Here are some questions I
have:
•Did Tyler Bush’s class
mates and friends receive any
counseling after Tyler’s acci
dent and subsequent death?
•Were the parents of Tyler’s
friends called to ask them to
make sure their children were
handling his death safely, with
phone numbers to call if they
felt that professional counsel
ing was called for?
•Did those parents who
Kelley continued from page 1A
made where the best interests of our city are
not being considered first.”
Kelley said he supports having a city man
ager for Baldwin.
“Much of the day to day functioning of
Baldwin can and should be done by a pro
fessional city manager,” he said. “I have the
experience and skills necessary to rebalance
the current budget in order to hire such a quali
fied individual. Next we may have to change
the city charter to allow for a city manager and
give them appropriate power to conduct busi
ness for the city. The current situation has been
years in the making and cannot be changed
overnight. The hiring process warrants taking
the time to hire someone who is not cutting
their managerial teeth on our city. We need
Drought assistance available for local farmers
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has an
nounced an additional 3-day signup period for
poultry and livestock producers in Jackson,
Madison and Banks counties suffering from the
drought. The disaster program is administered
by the USDA Farm Service Agency, which pro
vides cost share assistance to eligible producers
if the damage is so severe that livestock cannot
survive without additional water.
A producer qualifying for the program may re-
hiomer approves
-r /
BY JUSTIN POOLE
The City of Homer approved
a $457,000 budget at its Sept. 9
meeting, which is up over last
year’s budget of $427,100.
A final public hearing on
the budget was held before the
council meeting.
There were no public com
ments at the hearing. The
council approved the budget
unanimously.
In other business at the meet
ing, the council approved :
a resolution to support the
Homestead Exemption Tax.
City attorney Gary Freeman
presented a resolution that
would support the county in
reapplying for the tax relief
from the state.
The county applies for the
Homestead Exemption grant
and the city’s support helps to
strengthen the application.
Also during the meeting:
•Mayor Doug Cheek said
that the city’s comprehensive
plan is in the regional and
state review phase and until
the review process is over, the
city has to sit and wait.
•Congressional candidate
Bobby Saxon introduced him
self to the council during the
meeting.
CPA presents proposal to Baldwin
found out that some of their
children were drag racing on
a public road at 4 in the after
noon in front of Tyler Bush’s
house, four hours after his
funeral — did they take action
to counsel their children, and
help them get in a more sane
frame of mind?
“According to the article in
The Banks County News last
week, Tyler died in an auto
mobile accident while riding
in an open Jeep. He fell out
of the vehicle, which means
he likely wasn’t wearing a
seatbelt. Do his friends and
family really believe drag
racing down a county road
is the proper way to honor
his memory and support the
Banks County driver’s educa
tion program?
“Is Banks County commis
sioner Hart going to respond
to the situation as an elected
public official for the good of
all those other children and
passerbys?
“I stopped an illegal, dan
gerous situation so another
family wouldn’t have to bury
a child. Our children must
receive better care and guid
ance in the future, and our
elected officials, school board,
and parents must act respon
sibly and swiftly to confront
the reasons this situation was
allowed to occur.”
BY SHARON HOGAN
The Baldwin City Council
discussed the annual
2008-2009 cost estimate from
Beth Grimes, Certified Public
Accountant, Bates, Carter &
Co., Gainesville, at the work
session on Thursday, Sept. 4.
Grimes presented a total cost
of $35,000 for 163 hours of
work. This equates to $214.72
per hour. Interim Mayor Ray
Holcomb said.
This is the cost if she does all
of the work listed on the pro
posal, this doesn’t mean she
will do all of this, Holcomb
said. “The price could be
less,” he added.
Holcomb said, “I think the
estimate is the same as last
year.”
No action was taken on this
at Monday’s council meeting.
OTHER BUSINESS
In other business at the work
session:
•council member Jeff Murray
said the City of Demorest has
contacted Tim Hall, Baldwin
Public Works Director, about
changing out the master water
meter on J. Warren Road.
Murray said Demorest agreed
to go in halves with Baldwin
to change out the meters at the
water plant and at J. Warren
Road. “They asked if they
could go ahead and pay to
get both meters changed out
and then Baldwin could pay
the City of Demorest back
for half the cost,” Murray
said. Don Boaen, Woodard &
Curran, said the water meter
at J. Warren Road had the
head replaced in 1998 and the
body was installed in 1987.
The cost to pull the meter
out and have it re-calibrated
is $1,032 and a new meter
will cost $2,509 plus taxes
and shipping, Boaen said.
The head on the meter at the
water plan was purchased in
2005, Boaen said. The cost
to pull the meter out and re
calibrate will be $1,274 and
a new meter will cost $3,501,
Boaen said. The council asked
Murray and Boaen to get with
Hall for additional informa
tion on this. Holcomb said
Hall thought the city might be
able to go to a smaller meter at
the J. Warren road site.
•Murray said, “Rodney
(King, council member) and
myself went up and met with
one of the landlords on Wells
Street about washing during
this last rain we had.” One
of the places that washed out
was a driveway for one of the
houses. Murray said this used
to be an old road that went
through there that the city
still owns. Murray suggested
abandoning this portion of
Wells Street. “It’s grown up, it
has full grown trees growing
in it,” Murray said. Murray
added, “The public works
director says if we don’t
abandon it we’ll have to start
maintaining it.” Murray said
the city’s public works depart
ment is going to put a ditch
in on a small portion of the
road. Mayoral candidate Mark
Reed said, “We’ve abandoned
some little streets before and
later we wished we hadn’t. I
don’t know what the answer
is.” Holcomb said the council
would need to gather some
additional information on this
before any decision is made.
•Baldwin resident Polly
Ayers complained that she is
not able to drink the city’s
water at her house. Ayers said
the same is true at her mother’s
house. “We have to buy water
and ice,” Ayers said. Ayers
asked, “Can we dig a well
and still be on city sewer?”
Holcomb instructed Ayers that
she would need to check with
Habersham County to get a
permit for a well. “We don’t
regulate wells,” Holcomb
said.
•Reed reported that a total
of $132,000 was raised during
this year’s Habersham County
Relay For Life. “I want to
thank the city for participat
ing,” Reed said.
•the council met for one
hour in closed session to dis
cuss potential litigation. No
action was taken.
Maysville prepares for sidewalks
to look for an individual with both maturity of
experience and professional demeanor.”
Kelley is a small business owner and partner
in Kelley Asset Protection & Investments,
LLC.
The company provides investment advice
to businesses and individuals. He has been a
licensed stock broker since 1997. He is also
an Army Reservist, serving in an Individual
Military Augmentation (IMA) position as a
Civil Affairs Officer. His current orders have
him assigned as an instructor at Ft. Bragg, N.C.,
teaching Civil Affairs Officers and NCOs. He
plans to retire from the Army Reserve in the
near future.
Kelley and his wife, Victoria, have five chil
dren and three grandchildren.
ceive reimbursement for up to 50 percent of the
eligible cost of permanent measures, such as in
stalling pipelines or other facilities for livestock
water, constructing and deepening wells and de
veloping springs or seeps for livestock water.
Producers forced to acquire supplemental
emergency livestock water may contact the lo
cal FSA office, 1458 Ila Road, Commerce
(706-335-8111), through Oct. 21, to sign up for
the program.
BY JUSTIN POOLE
Residents of Maysville are
a step closer to seeing work
started on the transportation
enhancement (TE) streetscape
project. The project began late
in 2006 and amid state hold
ups at the DOT level and right-
of-way issues. The project has
slowly continued.
William Shealy of the Jaeger
Company attended the Sept. 15
city council meeting to update
the council and residents on
the progress and what is left to
accomplish.
“We have our design plans
off to GDOT for review,” said
Shealy. “Within the next three
weeks, we should be able to
finalize the plans. Hopefully,
we will have final plans by the
end of the month.”
Shealy also said that one
continuing issue would be
the 50-foot right-of-way with
the railroad. If the railroad is
unwilling to work with the
project, Shealy suggested
that the sidewalk be extended
along Hwy. 98.
The next steps are to check
on right-of-way certifications
or easements then proceed
into the construction phase,
including finalizing plans and
bid documents. Shealy said
that he hopes the project is out
to bid by the first of the year
and that Maysville residents
would see work beginning in
the spring.
DOWNTOWN
DEVELOPMENT
In an attempt to clarify the
confusion over the current
legality of the DDA, city attor
ney Gary Freeman informed
the council that he had spoken
with the GMA and also an
unaffiliated party to seek an
opinion on the wording that
four of the seven officers must
have an economic interest in
the downtown.
The same matter was the
main topic at the DDA meet
ing before the council meet
ing. According to Freeman, the
term economic interest applies
to people who either own a
business or operate a business
in the downtown area, which
is currently set as the entire
city area.
Melody Stancil, chairperson
of the DDA, requested that
Freeman send a copy of his
opinion to her for the DDA’s
records. Mayor Jerry Baker
said that it was his goal to
push forward and work with
the DDA for the betterment of
I
Maysville.
OTHER BUSINESS
During Monday's meeting,
the city council took the fol
lowing actions:
•approved annexation of
property in an industrial park
and voted to not have commer
cial businesses pay for the fire
line flat monthly rate charge.
Commercial businesses will
only pay for water usage.
•accepted bids for a lawn
mower, $3,247.27 from
Wesley’s Farm and Garden;
weedeater, $244.86 from
James Short Tractor Supply.
Other bids included $3257.34
on the mower from James
Short Tractor Supply and
$263.45 on the weedeater
from Swineharts.
•accepted a bid for water
line upgrades along Cemetery
Street, $21,412 from Dale
Construction Company, to be
paid out of SPLOST funds
from Jackson County. Another
bid from Griffin Brothers, Inc.
was for $24,185.
•approved the transfer of
city accounts to Community
Bank and Trust, once the bank
opens.
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BALLENGER REUNION
The descendants of the late Joseph Nathan
Ballenger will hold the first annual Ballenger
family reunion at 1 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 21, at the
home of Tommy and Helen Venable, 1665 Sanford
Road, Nicholson.
Family and friends are asked to bring a covered
dish, along with scrapbooks, old photos and any
mementoes they wish to share. For information,
call Helen Venable at 706-757-3879.
Including:
Class Rings • Wedding Bands
• Coins • Broken Jewelry
• Dental Gold
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770-532-2592
1020 Jesse Jewell Pkwy. • Gainesville, GA
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